Prosecutor gives UPDATE on ruling BLOCKING Trump ballroom

You're watching the Legal Breakdown. Glenn, it looks like Donald Trump has. got the news from a judge that he. dreaded more than any other news, and. that is that uh his ballroom, his. precious ballroom, has been halted. thanks to a preliminary injunction. So, first and foremost, talk to me about. what would happen if Donald Trump. ignores the court's orders and decides. to go ahead and continue the. construction of this ballroom despite. the ruling that was handed down. Well, what should happen, Brian, is he. should be held in contempt of court if. he intentionally violates a court order.

Now, in the near term, it's not going to. come to that. Why? Because the judge. stayed or paused his own order to give. Donald Trump an opportunity to, you. guessed it, appeal. And literally within. about 90 minutes of him losing in the. trial court, um his DOJ lawyers filed a. notice of appeal. So, it will soon be up. in front of the DC Federal Circuit Court. of Appeals. But, Brian, what I will say. is Judge Richard Leon, the federal. district judge in DC who issued this.

order, really didn't mince words. I've. appeared before Judge Leon when I was a. federal prosecutor, and let me just read. his opening salvo. And then I'm going to. cite a statistic about this opinion by. Judge Leon that may actually be record. setting. So, first of all, he started by. saying, "The President of the United. States is the steward of the White House. for future generations of first. families. He is not, however, the owner.

that was the first exclamation point in, I believe, the second. sentence of his opinion. But, for. emphasis, Judge Leon added 18 more. exclamation points. I have to tell you, I have read a ton of legal opinions and. rulings as a 30-year prosecutor. I can't. imagine I've ever seen another opinion. with 19 exclamation points in it, but it. was pretty clear that Judge Leon was was.

hot. He was exercised over Donald Trump. just thinking he can tear down. government buildings, he can build. government buildings without consulting. Congress. Congress has authority over. government buildings and they have the. power of the purse. They're the ones who. allocate money for construction. projects, tearing buildings down, putting buildings up. So, and there is actually a legal role to be. played in all of that by the National.

Trust for Historic Preservation. That is. an entity set up by Congress and it has. the legal requirement to actually be. involved in questions of what government. building should be torn down, put up, what should be preserved for you know, historical purposes. And the judge made. it clear that he was having none of. Donald Trump's nonsensical and. ever-shifting explanations as to why a.

president of the United States should be. able to do all of this on his own, bypassing Congress, bypassing the. National Trust for Historic. Preservation, and just do things at his. whim. And Judge Richard Leon said, "No, not on my watch." I mean, the. I I understand and appreciate the fact. that he actually was the one judge who. stood up and put an end to this, notwithstanding the fact that he did. halt his own ruling to give Trump the. ability to appeal, which of course he. did because there's nothing Trump wants.

to appeal more than a decision blocking. the construction of his precious. ballroom. But that notwithstanding, it. still does feel in the ballpark of. impotent to me, the fact that we're. sitting here waiting until he's already. knocked the whole thing down. before we start litigating its legality. Like I Or or I. I mean, can you just help me understand. a little bit of how we can go through. the normal course of business in the. courts about whether or not Donald Trump.

has the ability to do something that. he's already done as the White House, you know, East Wing sits there in a pile. of rubble? If you're asking me to make sense of the. senseless, I can't do it. Yeah. You. know, I will say, you know, now for as. strongly worded as Judge Leon's opinion. was, this litigation has been. percolating in front of Judge Leon for. some time. And here's the thing, and as. he notes in his opinion, the the White. House, Trump's DOJ lawyers came up with. ever-changing.

arguments for why it was lawful and how. it was going to be funded and why they. didn't need to go through Congress. And. because, I think in part, those. arguments were ever-changing and. sometimes inconsistent with one another, Judge Leon said, "Enough. Enough. I am. issuing an injunction. I'm putting a. stop to it." But like you say, you know, the horse is out of the barn. I mean, the East Wing is torn down. There's an. enormous hole on the White House grounds. where they're about to begin.

construction. And, you know, Donald. Trump really is not the owner of these. flipping buildings. The American people. really at at its core, the American. people own these buildings. They're. supposed to be preserved by law. Congress is supposed to be involved in. decisions about construction projects. and funding for construction projects. And why people are letting Donald Trump. run roughshod over what doesn't belong. to him, I wish I had an explanation for.

that, but I don't. Glenn, I want to dig. into a little bit of the specifics of. what Trump's arguments that he put. forward here are. But first, just a. quick reminder for those who appreciate. our legal coverage, we're going to be. doing videos every single day. The best. way to support our work and stay on top. of legal news is to subscribe to both of. our channels. So, I'm going to put those. links in the post description of this. video. If you're not yet subscribed, please do us a favor, support us, support independent media. Again, 100%. free, and just subscribe to our. channels. Glenn, it's worth asking here. One of the excuses Trump put forward was.

that all of this is okay because it's. coming in. under budget and ahead of schedule. So, apparently, as far as Trump is. concerned, you can knock down any. building you want so long as its. replacement comes in under budget and. ahead of schedule. Can I have your. reaction to that to that excuse that was. thrown together, thrown forward by. Trump? Yeah, it's laughable, but don't. take my word for it. I mean, Judge Leon. kind of scoffed at several points. throughout his 35-page opinion. No, that.

is not a lawful explanation, argument, or justification for why Donald Trump. gets to tear down buildings that don't. belong to him. Think about it. If that. was a. a basis to do what Donald Trump wants to. do, he could literally tear down every. government building and just say, "Well, you know what? The project to replace. those buildings is under cost and ahead. of schedule, so that's all you need to. know, Judge." And again, the judge was. having none of it. Let me just read. another little bit of what Judge Leon.

had to say. And then we'll tackle what. one of the primary arguments was by the. Trump DOJ lawyers and why the judge. rejected it. The judge said, "Look, unless and until Congress blesses this. project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop." There's. another exclamation point at the end of. that sentence. He says that, you know, the legislature retains its authority. over the nation's property and its.

oversight over the government's. spending. He ended that sentence with a. period. One of the arguments that the Trump. administration actually made is there is. some authority, some lawful authority. for a president to direct minor. renovations to the White House. So, for. example, when a prior president decided. to put a pool in, that was not deemed to. be a major renovation that had to be run. through Congress. And there are a couple. of other examples of that cited by Judge.

Leon. But, you can look at what Donald. Trump has done to the White House, torn. down an entire wing. And now, when you. see the construction site, the. construction site itself for this. ballroom dwarfs the entire what remains. of the White House. And look, maybe. better late than never that the National. Trust for Historic Preservation brought. this suit. They're trying to put a stop. to it. You know, Brian, they also. brought a suit to stop Donald Trump.

from, you know, altering the Kennedy. Center by, you know, violating the law. and putting his name on it. Now, he's. going to shut that down. He's going to. renovate it. So, look, at least these. matters are in court, better late than. never. And and maybe the Court of. Appeals will see it the same way that. Judge Leon saw it. I got to say, when. Trump tweeted his response to that exact. point, uh the fact that there was a. second lawsuit by uh by the uh National. Trust for Historic Preservation,

uh as far as the Trump Kennedy Center's. concerned, he said that it was a show of. bipartisan unity, a Republican and. Democrat president. So, there's clearly. no basis to attack uh attack what he's. done with the Kennedy Center by. illegally just donning his name on it. because this is, after all, just a. display of unity by by. slapping his name onto a monument that. belonged to a Democrat, and he's a. Republican. You know, and we know that Donald Trump. is all about unity. I mean, we've seen. him bring people together day in and day.

out, right? No, everybody who disagrees. with him is a radical left-wing lunatic, including Judge Leon, who let's see, he. was appointed to the federal bench by. George W. Bush. And I have to tell you, Brian, if we can use the Oval Office as. any gauge of what this ballroom might. look like, I mean, with all the little. gold spray-painted, you know, tchotchkes. and and whatnot, it looks like a Hobby. Lobby threw up in the Oval Office. I can.

only imagine what he has in store for. this grand ballroom of his. I also think. it's it's one more excuse that he put. forward when he was running through his. desperate desperate list of grievances. online on Truth Social after this ruling. was handed down was that. there was nothing being done to Jerome. Powell for renovating the Fed building. and there was also nothing being done. over the fact that California has a. quote railroad to nowhere that's cost. billions of dollars over budget. So, his.

argument basically reduces down to well, other people did things that I don't. like and they didn't get sued for that, so I can't get sued for it. I mean, this. is like it's legitimately like. nine-year-old's logic. Yeah, with apologies to nine-year-olds. who probably wouldn't even make such a. ridiculous argument. And let's never. forget that Donald Trump, who is forever. boasting about his business prowess, he. declared bankruptcy like six times. Everything he tried to sell, he failed.

at, whether it's Trump water, Trump. airline, Trump steaks, Trump University. He is an abject failure as a. businessman. And you know, so when he. you know, words tumble out of his mouth. like, you know, under budget, ahead of. schedule, I mean, maybe that means it. will get to bankruptcy quicker than many. of his other businesses, but listen, the. only people Donald Trump can fool with. any of this garbage is the gullible, you. know, the cult members, because they.

will never walk away from them from him. You know, they will forever believe. whatever nonsense he spews into the. public square. But again, the good the. good news at least for today, Brian, we'll take our wins where we can get. them. Judge Leon said, "Nope.". You know, I think the most interesting. part of this is let's say ultimately. this moves forward because of course. Congress has shown that it's perfectly. content to serve as an appendage of. Donald Trump. Mike Johnson's not going. to stand in his way. John Thune's not.

going to stand in his way. These people. their their entire identity identity is. predicated on their on just how. obsequious they can be to Trump himself. So so this thing I think if it's in the. hands of Congress will ultimately pass. But it's worth noting that if there is a. long enough delay there is a world where. this is a ballroom that's already slated. to open in 2028. Trump is slated to. leave office in 2028. There's a world. where he never gets to set foot inside. of this thing if there is enough of a. delay. And remember Congress is on on.

recess right now. So they're not even. coming back for a hot minute. Um and. then who knows if this becomes their. first order of business in terms of. voting to to approve. uh the the construction. So you know, again, there is there is a small chance. here that all of this results in Trump. not not even being able to to christen. the very the very ballroom that he spent. so much of his presidency building. You know, and at the end of the day, Brian, um I think the people will enjoy.

tearing down whatever Trump put his name. on. >> 100%. with their own two hands, right? You know, maybe we can auction off who. gets to pull the you know, the T, the R, the U, the M, and the P off of the. Kennedy Center. Sell it to the highest. bidder. And I think people would. probably enjoy taking down the ballroom. board by board and restoring the White. House to you know, what what used to be. a a really a beautiful historic storied.

building that held so many memories for. our country. Um, you know, I have to. believe that when we get through this. Trump era, we are going to put right so. much of what he has made wrong. Yeah, I. think uh it's probably going to be. difficult to tear down the ballroom, but. I think an easier lift is just renaming. it after uh I don't know who would make. him the maddest. Would it be the uh the. Barack uh the Barack Obama ballroom or. the Joseph R. Biden ballroom? You know, Yeah,

all of the above. Maybe the. Ruth Ruth Bader Ginsburg ballroom. It. could be you know, maybe it could be. jointly the um the James Comey and. Letitia James ballroom. Or or you know. what? Anthony Fauci. That that's uh I. think that would piss him off more than. anybody. James Comey, Anthony Fauci, Letitia James, just the whole the whole. we could have a whole list. It could be. a jointly owned. Uh with that said, again, for those who are watching right. now, if you'd like to stay on top of. legal news, legal analysis, the best way. to do that is to subscribe both of our. channels. I'm going to put the links to. both of our channels right here on the.

screen. If you're not yet subscribed, please go ahead and hit the subscribe. button. Great way to support our work, great way to support independent media, and again, 100% free. I'm Brian Tyler. Cohen. And I'm Glenn Kirschner. You're watching. the Legal Breakdown.